Sunday, 3 July 2016

Post-Brexit Aftermath II: Electric Boogaloo

It's been a whole week since the British referendum regarding membership of the EU, and even though a clear majority voted to leave, the remain camp have nevertheless ratcheted up the hysteria, propaganda, and outright lies that lost them the campaign in the first place. So, without further ado, go team retard!*

(*It should go without saying, but this only applies to the morons, and not to the sensible and mature people. When I refer to 'remain', etc. I am referring to the small but vocal minority of turds who are causing all the fuss).Outright lie number one: Brexit is 'fascism'.
I still find it hilarious how the remain camp think that a democratic vote and acting on the result of that democratic vote is 'fascism', but simultaneously think that ignoring the result of that democratic vote and imposing the opposite via top-down authoritarianism is 'democratic'. This is simply how democracy works. The largest group wins. The remain camp are little more than closet fascists themselves, as there have been further calls to ignore the result of the referendum entirely because it isn't 'legally binding'. Of course, given that we live in a 'representational democracy' MPs have to vote according to the wishes of the constituency and a clear majority support Brexit. In reality, of course, our system of 'representational democracy' is essentially just an autocratic, kleptocratic, oligarchy. We merely get to pick our rulers. Now, I'm no big fan of democracy, as it is clearly immoral and obviously inferior when compared to voluntarism. I just find it hilarious how those who pay lip service to democracy are really just closet fascists. I also find it hilarious how the left preaches 'tolerance' but are so intolerant of other people's ideas that a group of deluded millennials decided to wait outside Boris Johnson's house so they could boo and harass him. Nicola Sturgeon is claiming Scotland did not vote out of the EU, and so Scottish MPs could veto Brexit. Unfortunately for Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland is not an independent sovereign nation. Scotland did not vote on EU membership. The UK as a whole did. If Scotland want to remain in the EU, then they need to leave the UK to do so.

Now, I absolutely support the breaking up of the UK. Secession and decentralisation of power are two of the best political acts that can happen. However, this would currently be a disaster for Scotland if they do this. If they leave the UK, then they'd have to give up the pound Sterling, etc. They would then have to join the EU, and this raises two problems: they have to be accepted by all EU member states, and they have to adopt the Euro if they are let in. Regarding the first issue, Spain is unlikely to be favourable towards an independent Scotland, since Scottish independence would likely encourage Catalonian independence movements within Spain. Regarding the second, the Eurozone is in utter turmoil. Greece is in utter economic ruin, and the rest of the Mediterranean are in abysmal shape. Of course, one other problem is that Scotland on its own would likely fail to meet several criteria required for EU membership anyway as Scotland has a bigger budget deficit than Greece. Northern Irish secession makes more sense since they wish to reunify with the Republic of Ireland. However, if the Scottish people want independence, they absolutely should have it. It might spell economic disaster for Scotland, but it would save the UK a lot of money. Interestingly, it seems as if the Scottish aren't too keen on Nicola Sturgeon, however, as a petition has been started to remove her as First Minister of Scotland, and had gained over 18,000 signatures. More recently, however, rich people are marching in favour of a bunch of unelected bureaucrats in Brussels in the hilarious named 'march for Europe'. I can't help but remember the last time a bunch of people marched against democracy and in favour of a Federal Europe...

Outright lie number two:Brexit is 'racist' and 'xenophobic'.
Like most regressives and leftists, many in the remain camp have decided that simply shouting at people and calling them racists is a compelling argument. The simple reality is that there are not 17 million racists in this country. Much like how, in the same way, the 16 million people who voted remain aren't all massive crybabies kicking up a huge stink. Whether the actual racists have been emboldened by the Brexit vote is another matter. Maybe they have, maybe they haven't. Incidentally, I live on the Isle of Wight, one of the most pro-leave areas in the UK. There is an off-license nearby run by Tamils (from Sri Lanka) and they also have a Polish lady working there. Despite this, no acts of racial abuse have occurred. In fact, quite the opposite, with lots of the older patrons being especially warm and friendly. The only incident of racism I've ever witnessed was a case where two kids in the queue in front of me were giggling to each other, saying that the shop owners 'sound like monkeys'. However, if you wish to find the main source of hostility and conflict, then one needs to look no further than the left, whose insane rhetoric and steadfast refusal to even consider the point of views who disagree with them is the main reason so many people feel alienated, bitter, and resentful. When you continually brush off the concerns of the poor and working class, and shout 'racist!' at the top of your lungs in response, then people tend to get more than just a little bit pissed off. In fact, shouting 'racist!' is probably one of the big reasons the remain camp lost the vote. Because it simply isn't an argument. Brexit voters could very well be racist, but that fact alone would do nothing to answer their arguments.

However, is it xenophobia when a fear is entirely rational and well-grounded? Mass immigration clearly concerns a lot of people, primarily the people who live in the areas where mass amounts of migrants are arriving. In order to understand and dialogue with someone whose views do not align with yours, it helps if you seek to understand what their concerns are and on what basis they are made. The majority of people don't care that people of different colours and nationalities are coming to their country. What so concerns people is mass immigration of those from incompatible cultures. It has been revealed that over a period of 16 years, in excess of 1,400 girls were subjected to sexual abuse, which included forced prostitution and gang rape, at the hands of Muslim immigrants to the UK in Rotherham. As bad as that is, it was also revealed that the police knew about this, but failed to prosecute or do anything because they were worried about being branded 'racist'. More recently, numerous incidents of mass sexual assault were carried out by large gangs of Muslim migrants in Cologne, and elsewhere. Incidents of rape have also gone up in places such as Sweden that have seen mass influxes of immigrants from Islamic regions. When concerns such as these are ignored and brushed under the rug and those who bring up such concerns are branded as 'racists', is it any wonder that people become angry? Is it any wonder that extremist views rise in popularity and appeal?

Mass immigration, particular in nations with lavish and extravagant welfare states, such as the UK, prevents cultural assimilation and leads to segregated ghettos, and conflict. This is happening all around us. Children of immigrants are typically more radicalised than their parents, and it due to this lack of cultural assimilation. Natives who live in areas with such high number of these types of immigrants are rightly worried. Islam is fundamentally incompatible with Western civilisation and socio-cultural values: most importantly sharia law does not recognise the separation of Church and State. Aside from the cultural issue, there is the economic issue of the fact that mass immigration puts downward pressure on wages, and also puts an increased burden and strain on public services. I absolutely support the eventual abolition of the NHS in the UK and replacing it with a genuine free-market healthcare system. However, most if not all of the remain do not, and support 'our' NHS. One of the big problems with such vastly inefficient systems is that you eventually reach a point where more people are taking out than paying in, and the massive influx of unskilled migrants isn't helping. You simply cannot have a lavish and extravagant welfare state and uncontrolled migration simultaneously. Migration needs to be controlled, which is what the overwhelming majority of leave voters believe. Whilst there presumably is no shortage of actual racists who have an irrational hatred and/or fear of all migrants, to suggest that the leave campaign and Brexit is based on racism or xenophobia is an outright lie. The majority of people have no problem with controlled migration, particularly skilled migrants.

Outright lie number three: Brexit serves the establishment.
Unfortunately for the remain camp, the overwhelming majority of the political and globalist establishment, the overwhelming majority of multimillionaire celebrities, et al., and the overwhelming majority of wealthy bourgeoisie and pseudo-intelligentsia all supported remain. The overwhelming majority of MPs supported leave. 185 Tory MPs, 218 Labour MPs, 54 SNP MPs, 8 Lib Dem MPs, 4 Sinn Fein MPs, 3 SDLP MPs, 3 Plaid Cymru MPs, and 4 'other' MPs all supported remain. Only 138 Tory MPs, 10 Labour MPs, 8 DUP MPs, and 2 'other' MPs supporting leave. It's a curious thing that the Brexit result has essentially caused the Labour party to fall apart entirely. Jeremy Corbyn was elected not by the Labour MPs (most of whom did not support Corbyn), but by the Labour voters and constituents who paid for the £5 Labour membership so they could vote for who the leader of the Labour party would be. Now, all the evidence seems to suggest that Corbyn did not support the remain camp, and has been accused by his fellow Labour MPs of only half-heartedly supporting the remain camp. In the aftermath of Brexit, 172 Labour MPs have stabbed Corbyn in the back by signing a 'vote of no confidence' in his leadership as two-thirds of his cabinet have so far stepped down... even though he was voted as leader by the Labour voters and constituents.

The idea that politicians represent the wishes of their constituents is simply demonstrably false, which this incident in particular demonstrates. I may despise Labour and everything the left stands for, but I really admire how Corbyn actually represents his constituents, and how he has handled himself in the wake of this cowardly attack from within his own party. A similar power struggle is ongoing in the Tory party, as David Cameron has decided to step down as PM... you know, rather than do his job and invoke Article 50.

Incidentally, it is likely that the establishment will do all in its power to stop Brexit from happening, or, at the least, try and sabotage it somehow. It's no coincidence that the state-owned BBC, as well as all the big media companies are pumping out anti-Brexit propaganda. The entire establishment was doing everything it could to lord over the leave voter base, insinuating that they are stupid, misinformed, voting against their own interests, etc. I just find it hysterical how people who have sided with David Cameron, the IMF, and Goldman Sachs against the poor and working classes can in any way consider themselves anti-establishment. By attacking actual anti-establishment individuals and defending the status quo of the establishment, they are clearly promoting antidisestablishmentarianism.

Outright lie number four: Brexit has caused/is going to cause an economic collapse/recession
Even though every economic prediction made by the remain camp has turned out completely false, they apparently haven't gained any perspective since they are still parroting the same doomsday prophesying. This is a classic case of the moving the goalposts fallacy, since they keep making ad hoc adjustments to their predictions and claims in order to save face, so they can keep saying 'look I was right' even as their claims and arguments are debunked right before their very eyes. The pound dropped and stocks took a plunge after Brexit, which is understandable when we consider that everyone was betting on the remain camp winning. They lost that bet, and that drop was an over correction to a market that had predicted the wrong result. The FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 fluctuated up and then down, but have now risen considerably. Secondly, even during the dip, the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 were still way ahead of historic lows, such as 2002 and 2008, and were way ahead of February THIS year. However, one thing to note is that the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 took a dip on June 14th PRIOR to the Brexit result. Moreover, the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 still outperformed other economic indices abroad. Stocks and shares took a far worse turn overseas than here in the UK.

The fragility of the economy existed far before Brexit, and is the result of artificial credit expansion. Central banks pushing quantitative easing and artificially low interest rates have weakened the economy considerably, and lead to this periodic boom-bust cycles. The reason for this is because these policies stimulate artificial demand, which creates a period of unstable and unsustainable growth, colloquially referred to as a 'bubble'. When the policies can no longer be sustained, the boom ends, and a bust results. Moreover, the longer the period of artificial growth, the bigger the bust will be as the market has to correct itself. This is what a recession is. You'd still get recessions in a free-market banking and economic system, but they'd be much milder, and much shorter. These easy-credit policies cause these recessions to be much more frequent, to be much longer in duration, and to be much more savage and brutal than they otherwise would have been. The Great Depression would have been far less severe had it not been FDRs insane and reckless fiscal policies. The housing boom and bust in the US is no different. Banks were told by the government that they had to provide low interest loans and mortgages to people with bad credit ratings. This caused a boom in house prices. However, when the overwhelming majority of these people defaulted on their loans and mortgages, there was a massive bust.

Another feature of these policies is that it greatly reduces purchasing power, which hits the poor and working class the hardest. Pretty much all the countries in the world all have fiat currencies. What this means is that the money is just bits of paper and coins made out of basic metals. They are not tied to any physical commodity, such as gold or silver. This makes it very easy to mass produce. However, the more you have of something, the less value it has, and the same is true of money. The more dollars there are, the less each individual dollar is worth. As central banks print money ad infinitum, the value of currency goes down. Now, America has managed to stave off hyperinflation as there is currently a huge overseas demand for dollars as it the world reserve currency and is the currency used for trading in oil. If either or both of those were to change and all those overseas dollars came flooding back to the US, then hyperinflation would hit and America's economy would be wiped out. The idea that economic instability is the result of 'deregulation' is not just absolutely and unremittingly false, it is literally the exact opposite of the truth. The number of regulations in the US has only gone up and not down, and the net result is that GDP growth has slowed dramatically over the past decades, and that Americans are roughly 75% poorer. The artificial credit policies pursued by banks also represent a very specific form of regulation.

There is likely going to be a coming crash and recession, one that is likely going to make the 'great recession' of 2008 look like a picnic. However, it has nothing to do with Brexit. It has everything to do with the insane and fiscally reckless policies pursued across the globe. Incidentally, despite wailing about an economic collapse that just isn't happening, none of the remain camp seem to be aware of the Greek debt crisis, or the worsening economic conditions in the other Mediterranean nations (Italy, Spain, and Portugal). Both of these things are the direct result of the Eurozone. The interest rates at the European Central Bank are low due to economic powerhouses such as Germany. The poorer countries in the Eurozone are able to take out loans at rates that would otherwise have been unavailable to them. They borrow like crazy, but, obviously, cannot pay the loans back and so end up demanding more money. However, the wealthier countries can't keep bailing the poorer countries out ad infinitum, and so they have to stop the funding. This is just one of the ways in which the EU has provably made the European economy as a whole weaker.

Youth unemployment in EU member states is huge. The Common Fisheries Policy has decimated the British fishing industry. British fishing waters are being handed over to other EU member states, British fishers are being paid to destroy their boats, quotas are set on how much fish we can sell, etc. Among the largest pro-leave areas were areas up north where our fishing industry is based. Hilariously, I had a pro-remain person literally and unashamedly say ask why they should care about northern fisheries. The EU famously bought large quantities of crops from farmers and left it all to rot purely in order to drive prices up. The mandatory tariffs on non-EU imports have reduced the amount of trade and makes it harder for those in poorer countries to do trade with Europe, for instance, African farmers, or Brazilian sugar cane exporters. The EU has effectively created a huge barrier between Europe and the rest of the world. The policies of regulation, subsidisation, protectionism, etc. have all been tried before and have only ever produced the same results: worsening economic conditions.

Outright lie number five: virtually any claim made about MEP Nigel Farage
So many lies have been made against Nigel Farage that I could presumably have written an entire blog just about attacks made against him, but I thought I'd just save time and space by compressing the worst zingers here. Perhaps the biggest lie made about Farage is the obviously false claim that he has 'backtracked' on his position regarding the NHS. When Farage said that comments made by the leave camp regarding the NHS 'were a mistake', this was seized upon with hot lust by the remain camp, who were only too quick to accuse him of reneging a prior promise. However, had they bothered to do any research, the promises in question weren't made by Farage at all. They were made by the 'official' leave campaign which was run by Tory MPs Boris Johnson and Michael Gove. Farage can't possibly backtrack on a position he has never held. Essentially, the people accusing Farage of 'backtracking' are apparently trying to hold Farage accountable for the actions of others.

Another lie is made regarding Farage's brilliant speech made in the European Parliament following the Brexit result. The remain camp got particularly incensed over his remark that virtually none of the MEPs have done a 'real job', a reference to the fact that most politicians, particular those in the EU, are nothing but career politicians. There are actually people stupid enough to think that a handful of exceptions to this is enough to falsify Farage's claim. However, when you consider that there are 748 MEPs, and the remain camp can find ten or so examples to the contrary (which include UKIP MEPs), I fail to see how Farage has been proven wrong. At the very most, one could say, maybe his rhetoric was a bit exaggerated, but, realistically 10-20 people out of 748 having had real jobs isn't a damning contradiction. Of course, some of what remain considers 'real jobs' is particularly hilarious, but it should be already clear they are grasping at straws with this one.

One particularly hilarious lie is the claim that Nigel Farage is the British answer to Donald Trump. This might seem persuasive to the emotional children who think comparing everybody they don't like to Hitler is a valid means of political discourse, but, to those with more than half a brain, this is a claim that is very easy to disprove. Perhaps the most obvious fact is that Trump's views on government are diametrically opposed to Farage's. Farage has gone on record saying he believers in smaller, more local, and more limited government, whereas many of Trump's policies rely on big, large, and over expansive government. Perhaps the only thing they actually have in common is that they are both populist figures. The final and most egregious lie is that Farage and the remain camp have no plan. The obvious problem is that Farage and Daniel Hannan are both MEPs, and Johnson, Gove, et al. were all MPs. None of them were the Prime Minister, and none of them had the power to do anything. They only need a plan now because David Cameron has resigned (again, instead of doing his job). Not that any of this really matters, because attacking someone's personal characteristics in lieu of argument is the fallacy of argumentum ad hominem.

Outright lie number six: we get more from the EU than we pay in
I have to wonder at how so many people can believe this obvious falsehood. This claim is often made in response to the claim that we pay £13 billion a year. Now, it is true that we pay roughly £13 billion a year to the EU. However, the remain camp point out that the 'rebate' we receive, and the subsidies we receive from the EU. When we subtract those from the amount we pay in, we are left with £5 billion. There are people who are apparently stupid enough to believe that being returned £8 billion of the £13 billion we have spent means we receive more than we give. The obvious problem is that we aren't paying £5 billion and getting £8 billion in return. We are paying £13 billion and getting £8 billion in return. We haven't gained any additional funds, since it's all taken from money we've paid in. If I pay somebody £13, and they later give £8 back, I'm not suddenly better off. I'm still £5 less well off. However, the bigger fallacy lies in assuming that £8 billion would not have been spent on things had the UK first not paid £13 billion to the EU. This is simply the fallacy of the broken window in that it focuses on that which is seen whilst ignoring that which is not seen. If I break somebody's widow and they pay the glazier to repair it, that money would have been spent elsewhere had I not broken the window.

Moreover, simply pumping money into businesses that can't survive on a commercial basis does nothing to stimulate real economic growth. It stimulates artificial demand, which leads to higher prices and shortages. Moreover, if a company is guaranteed income, then there no pressure to innovate or compete. Unfortunately, it is impossible to reason with these kinds of people, because they never argue in good faith. All of their beliefs are assumed and held without evidence. Whilst the logic of an argument might be impeccable, and the soundness of a critique might be beyond question, it is sadly not enough to convince the intelligence deprived true believers. If any on the right had committed any such acts of malfeasance, the left would be up in arms. The sheer volume of lies is just truly staggering. The leave campaign spearheaded by the renegade Tories headed up by Gove and Johnson told some porkies, but they absolutely pale in comparison to the unadulterated falsehoods put forward by the remain campaign. One final hilarity that deserves mention is the claim that crybaby millennials in the remain camp were claiming that 'old' people had 'stolen their future' from them. Aside from the obvious fact that old people lived before the EU and so remember what it was like before, one hilarity is that only around 30% of millennials actually turned out to vote. They couldn't be bothered to vote, but they could be bothered to virtue signal on social media.